Tyson Manker

CompuBalance video link: https://youtu.be/vxc99g9IayM

When I was a young kid in the 1980s, my dad, Robin Manker, started a business with his brother, Bob, called "Compu-Balance," which was a bowling ball layout and drilling apparatus and system based on my dad's U.S. Patent US4742620A (1988), titled “Bowling Ball Weight Locating Method and Apparatus.”

Patent: https://patents.google.com/patent/US4742620A/

I vivldly remember dad in our basement, carefully packing each CompuBalance system into its square, cardboard shipping box with its distinctive CB logo, a bowling ball and calculator embedded into a futuristic looking CB. He had a giant drum of styrofoam peanuts he'd scoop into each box, followed with the screech of clear packing tape, then a new pin on his world map, as he proudly charted where his inventions had sold. "Every continent but Antarctica!" he was proud to say.

Dad passed in 2017, and the world has never been the same. Recently, I started bowling again for the first time as an adult. There have been moments when I've thought, man, it sure would be nice if dad was here and I could ask him...

A wonderful thing happened recently when I walked into Bowling Dynamics to get a new bag, and I ran into the owner, Dave Cirigliano. I mentioned my family's bowling history to Dave and asked if he remembered the CompuBalance system, and I'll never forget his reply. "Yes, I do remember," he smiled, and warmly shared how he had used the system for many years in his pro shop and frequently had occasion to call my uncle Bob, a well-known bowler and ball driller, for guidance. I told Dave I had never seen the Compubalance video, included with the system, but wanted to because of the footage it would have of my dad. "I think I still have it," he told me. Lo and behold, Dave texted me that night a photo of his personal CompuBalance. The next time I went to see him, Dave, in one of the nicest gestures, gifted me his CompuBalance system, still with its original UPS COD label affixed from the day it was delivered, May 18, 1990.

To see and hear my father again is very special, and to revisit CompuBalance now, as an adult, and to better understand what my dad and Uncle Bob created all those years ago, gave me a new, profound respect. CompuBalance was revolutionary in its approach to improving the game of bowling, and while I can't tell my dad how proud I am of his efforts, I have undertaken the task of compiling everything I can about the CompuBalance project for historical archiving.

It's just a URL at the moment, but I will add everything to COMPUBALANCE.COM when I can. I'll post the CompuBalance video link in the comments.

cc: Bobs Pro Shop

March 22, 2026 - Completed Guitar

Manker Guitars Telecaster personal build *not for sale*

Specs:

Body: One-piece knotty pine (USA)
Fretboard: Macassar Ebony (Indonesia)
Neck: Roasted Birdseye maple (Canada)
Pickups: Manker Guitars hand wound
Neck: 7.8k ohms
Brigde: 8.1k ohms
Tuners: Gotoh locking vintage
Finish: Cardinal Paint & Powder lacquer